Methods for the dehydrosilylation of alkenes typically suffer from low selectivity and narrow scope. Now, the highly selective manganese-catalysed redox-neutral dehydrosilylation and hydrosilylation of alkenes has been achieved through ligand-tuned metalloradical activity. Whereas an electron-rich bidentate ligand promotes dehydrosilylation, hydrosilylation is the favoured pathway when using an electron-deficient phosphine ligand. DFT calculations have been carried out to understand the observed selectivity.
- Jie Dong
- Xiang-Ai Yuan
- Jin Xie
